CRAVE: Guest Chef

Old family recipes make the holidays so special. For this holiday season, I am using some recipes from my Grandmother, Selma Baumann and my own Mom, Edna Baumann, for my Guest Chef article. Both my grandmother and mother died some years ago but their memories live on in the recipes that they shared. My grandmother used to make the best pickles. This one for Bread and Butter Pickles makes about 2 quarts. You can process it a water bath canner but it can be stored in the refrigerator since it doesn't make a huge amount. They won't last long anyway!!! I always loved my grandmother's noodles. She made her own bread crumbs and browned them in butter. I liked them almost as much as mashed potatoes!!!

The Chili and Beans recipe is one that my mother used. I started canning it for my brother and his college roommates back in 1979. They had lots of venison and no freezer space, so we would have the meat ground and make chili and beans. I had just been to Canning School and was so excited to use what I had learned. Over 30 years later, I still can at least a dozen quarts for my little brother for Christmas each year. It reminds us of my Mom and how good her Chili and Beans always was. On a cold winter day, it makes the kitchen smell great!

Bread and Butter Pickles

8 cups thinly sliced cucumbers

2 cups thinly sliced onions

4 green peppers, finely chopped

2 cups vinegar

Salt to taste

2 teaspoons celery seed

2 teaspoons turmeric

3 cinnamon sticks

3 cups sugar

Sprinkle cucumbers & onions generously with salt. Set aside for an hour. Drain. Put in a saucepan with vinegar, sugar, celery seed, turmeric, cinnamon and peppers. Bring to a boil. Cook for 20 minutes. This makes 2 quarts.

Mrs. A. F. Baumann (My grandmother)

Breaded Noodles

Boil noodles in salted water until tender and drain. Brown one cup or bread crumbs in butter or with diced bacon and drippings. Alternate layer of noodles with layer of bread crumbs saving enough crumbs to garnish the last layer of noodles. Serve with pot roast and gravy.

This is how my grandmother served noodles. They were so good!

Holiday(or any other time of the year) Canned Chili and Beans

To make approximately 12 quarts of chili and beans, I use 10 lbs. of hamburger meat and 4 lbs. of already cooked pinto beans. Mix them together and use about 6 packages of taco seasoning mix or chili seasoning mix. You can also add onions, jalapenos, garlic, Rotel, etc. Once the chili tastes like you want it to, take your quart jars - I like the wide mouth better. Do six jars at a time unless you have 2 canners. Using a large canning funnel, ladle the hot chili into the jars. Carefully wipe the rim of each jar to remove any grease or residue. Put on the flat lid that has been soaking in hot water. Put on the ring until it is firm - not as tight as you can get it. Put the jars in the canner. The canner should have about 2 inches of water in it and also a rack on the bottom. Put the lid on the canner. Leave the exhaust valve open and let the canner exhaust steam for 10 minutes. Close the valve. Let the canner reach 10 lbs. pressure. Start timing. Quarts need to be done for 75 minutes. Let the pressure in the canner drop to absolute zero before you try to open it. Do not cool it down by running water over it or your jars will explode. Once it drops to 0, carefully remove the lid and take out the jars and listen to them seal!